About 55 per cent of married women lack the
freedom to go alone to a hospital or health
centre, or outside their village, town or city6.
Domestic violence remains a huge threat to
the security of adolescent girls. A UNICEF
report found that extreme physical abuse at
home that led to death accounted for more
than 70 per cent of the reported domestic
violence cases involving young housewives
and girls aged 13-187.
Bangladesh has one of the highest rates of child marriage in the world. More than two-thirds
of adolescent girls are married (of those aged 10-19)8. Nearly two in five girls aged 15-17 are
married, despite 18 being the legal age for marriage9.
More than half the adolescent girls (55 per cent) become mothers by the time they are 19,
and half of these mothers are acutely malnourished. The maternal mortality rate among
adolescent mothers is double the national rate10.
The national maternal mortality rate is one of the worst
in South Asia, at 320 deaths per 100,000 births11. This
means about 11,000 women die giving birth every year.
Most deliveries take place at home away from
emergency obstetric care and without a skilled
attendant.
Almost one in every seven maternal deaths is caused
by violence12.
Nearly half of all mothers are malnourished (45 per
cent)13. Anaemia is a severe public health problem for
pregnant women, which has been estimated at around
46 per cent. Almost one third of adolescent girls also
suffer from anaemia14.
Girls are typically fed less and last. Nationally, 4.8 per
cent of girls aged 12-59 months were malnourished
compared with 3.6 per cent of boys15.
Almost one in every two husbands decides their wife’s
health care (48 per cent). They often solely determine their children’s health care (32 per
cent)16.
শনিবার, ৫ ডিসেম্বর, ২০০৯
In addition to UNICEF’s overall role to promote girls’
In addition to UNICEF’s overall role to promote girls’ education in the national context, the strategies and approaches above will be implemented through specific UNICEF supported interventions to promote and accelerate girls’ education in Bangladesh.
The following are the core education programmes which underpin Unicef Bangladesh girls’ education strategy:
Improving the quality of and access to formal primary education: Through parallel funding UNICEF will support PEDP II with an emphasis on quality improvement and equity. Building on IDEAL initiatives, support will focus on effective in-service training of teachers, local level planning, social mobilisation and community involvement and the development of innovative initiatives to reach excluded children. A number of initiatives which proved effective in IDEAL Project will be implemented nationally. Direct support from UNICEF will be given for the development and small scale implementation of new and related interventions. Direct coverage will be of a few thousand children. However, successful interventions will be implemented in PEDP II throughout the country with a potential coverage of over 17 million children. The result should be more girls and boys who achieve the expected competencies of the primary cycle and who are adequately prepared for secondary school.
Education for working children: A new project (Basic Education for Urban Working Children) will be undertaken in 2004. Implemented by the government through NGOs, the project will provide nonformal education and life skills for 200,000 children (60 percent girls), impart livelihood skills training for older adolescents and undertake social mobilisation activities to raise awareness of child labour issues and to advocate for the elimination of the worst forms of child labour. A special focus will be on domestic girl workers.
The following are the core education programmes which underpin Unicef Bangladesh girls’ education strategy:
Improving the quality of and access to formal primary education: Through parallel funding UNICEF will support PEDP II with an emphasis on quality improvement and equity. Building on IDEAL initiatives, support will focus on effective in-service training of teachers, local level planning, social mobilisation and community involvement and the development of innovative initiatives to reach excluded children. A number of initiatives which proved effective in IDEAL Project will be implemented nationally. Direct support from UNICEF will be given for the development and small scale implementation of new and related interventions. Direct coverage will be of a few thousand children. However, successful interventions will be implemented in PEDP II throughout the country with a potential coverage of over 17 million children. The result should be more girls and boys who achieve the expected competencies of the primary cycle and who are adequately prepared for secondary school.
Education for working children: A new project (Basic Education for Urban Working Children) will be undertaken in 2004. Implemented by the government through NGOs, the project will provide nonformal education and life skills for 200,000 children (60 percent girls), impart livelihood skills training for older adolescents and undertake social mobilisation activities to raise awareness of child labour issues and to advocate for the elimination of the worst forms of child labour. A special focus will be on domestic girl workers.
The aim is to promote and enhance the value and role of girls in all aspects of social and economic life, to improve the quality of basic education an
The aim is to promote and enhance the value and role of girls in all aspects of social and economic life, to improve the quality of basic education and to ensure equitable access to learning opportunities for girls currently not enrolled in primary schools. The strategy promotes and supports the rights of girls and women as mandated in the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
As the lead agency for girls’ education, UNICEF is responsible not only for reflecting the global priorities in its own programmes but also for ensuring that girls’ education is promoted as a national priority in Bangladesh by the Govermnet and across a wide spectrum of partners and civil society. UNICEF has a major responsibility to advocate for girls’ education amongst all partners, to ensure that a broad based coalition is built for promoting girls’ education and to monitor progress towards the Millennium Development Goals related to girls’ education.
To fulfill its mandate for girls’ education in Bangladesh, a number of strategies will be employed by UNICEF to meet both its programmatic objectives as well as to contribute to the fulfillment of the girls’ education goals in Bangladesh by 2005 and 2015. The key strategies:
Promoting girls’ education and empowerment in national policies
Networking and building alliances and partnerships
Promotion of multi-dimensional and cross-sectoral approaches
Support to formal and nonformal channels
Promotion of girls’ education at every stage of the life cycle
Promotion of girls’ participation and empowerment
Inclusion of boys
Monitoring of progress
To meet these objectives the Child Development and Education (CDE) Section had three projects as part of the current Country Programme. The Early Childhood Development (ECD) Project was introduced in this Country Programme and works with the government and NGO partners to promote the cognitive, emotional and social development of the young child. The Intensive District Approach to Education for All (IDEAL) Project has covered 36 of the 64 districts of Bangladesh. In-service teachers’ training on child-centred active learning methods and the promotion of community participation in schools are cornerstones of the project. Through the Basic Education for Hard to Reach Urban Children (BEHTRUC) Project nearly 339,000 working children have been given access to basic education through a two year tailor made course.
As the lead agency for girls’ education, UNICEF is responsible not only for reflecting the global priorities in its own programmes but also for ensuring that girls’ education is promoted as a national priority in Bangladesh by the Govermnet and across a wide spectrum of partners and civil society. UNICEF has a major responsibility to advocate for girls’ education amongst all partners, to ensure that a broad based coalition is built for promoting girls’ education and to monitor progress towards the Millennium Development Goals related to girls’ education.
To fulfill its mandate for girls’ education in Bangladesh, a number of strategies will be employed by UNICEF to meet both its programmatic objectives as well as to contribute to the fulfillment of the girls’ education goals in Bangladesh by 2005 and 2015. The key strategies:
Promoting girls’ education and empowerment in national policies
Networking and building alliances and partnerships
Promotion of multi-dimensional and cross-sectoral approaches
Support to formal and nonformal channels
Promotion of girls’ education at every stage of the life cycle
Promotion of girls’ participation and empowerment
Inclusion of boys
Monitoring of progress
To meet these objectives the Child Development and Education (CDE) Section had three projects as part of the current Country Programme. The Early Childhood Development (ECD) Project was introduced in this Country Programme and works with the government and NGO partners to promote the cognitive, emotional and social development of the young child. The Intensive District Approach to Education for All (IDEAL) Project has covered 36 of the 64 districts of Bangladesh. In-service teachers’ training on child-centred active learning methods and the promotion of community participation in schools are cornerstones of the project. Through the Basic Education for Hard to Reach Urban Children (BEHTRUC) Project nearly 339,000 working children have been given access to basic education through a two year tailor made course.
Girls’ Education Strategy for Bangladesh
Girls’ Education Strategy for Bangladesh
With a population of 130 million Bangladesh has around 19 million children of primary school age (ages 6-10). Almost half are girls. Tremendous efforts in the past decade have been successful in getting more girls into school, resulting in gender parity in enrolments in primary and lower secondary schools, but the percentage of girls begins to decline in the later secondary years. When the girl dropouts are added to the number of girls who have never enrolled, there are still approximately 1.5 million primary school age girls out of school. The poor quality of education results in low achievement levels for girls and boys, and limited options for girls and women within the greater society exacerbate the problems of inadequate schooling for girls.
During the 1990s Bangladesh recorded a remarkable achievement in primary education with net and gross enrolments and completion rates all increasing by over 20 per cent. Girls’ enrolments increased by over 30 per cent during the period. Girls’ net enrolment in 2003 is 84 per cent (compared to 81 per cent for boys) However, 10 per cent of girls and 15 per cent of boys of the primary school age group have never been enrolled in school, and the poor quality of education is reflected in poor attendance, high repetition rates, high drop-out rates (37 per cent for girls and 38 per cent for boys) and low achievement. This results in just over a quarter of girls of the age group completing primary education with a minimum level of the expected competencies. Of the total cohort, 10 per cent never enroll, 34 per cent drop out, 28 per cent complete but do not achieve the minimum expected learning outcomes and only 28 per cent complete with satisfactory achievement. (The corresponding pattern for boys is 15 per cent, 32 per cent, 25 per cent and 28 per cent respectively.)
Sources of primary education statistics:
Never enrolled and NER: Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2003 (preliminary findings), Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics and UNICEF.
Dropout rate: Child Education and Literacy Survey 2002, Compulsory Primary Education Implementation and Monitoring Unit, Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, Government of Bangladesh.
Low achievement: EFA 2000 Assessment Bangladesh Country Report, Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, Government of Bangladesh. (Of the children still enrolled by the last year of primary school, only 50 per cent of girls and 53 per cent of boys achieved acceptable national curriculum levels according to an evaluation of a sample group.)
Girls' Education
Girls' Education
Despite having achieved gender parity in primary school enrolments, Bangladesh still has a long way to go to achieve gender equity, access to quality education for all girls, completion of basic education with acceptable competency levels and relevant life skills and equal roles for women and girls in society. Some of the key issues which must be addressed are as follows:
Perceptions of lesser value and limited roles of girls: Gender discrimination starts from birth and continues throughout life in Bangladesh. The perceived lesser value and limited roles of girls and women are embedded in the socio-economic system. Girls’ education, very broadly defined, can play a part in changing these norms and practices. The issue must be addressed both within schools and in the broader society, starting from early childhood and continuing through adolescence.
Quality of basic education: As the statistics illustrate, neither girls nor boys are receiving an education of an acceptable standard. By age 11 only just over a quarter have achieved the expected minimum competencies of primary school. Besides low academic achievement, there is little scope for developing relevant life skills within schools. Although many girls do continue with secondary school, their low competency levels put them at a disadvantage from the very beginning of the secondary cycle. For those who do not go on to secondary school, their low competency levels will be a severe limitation to their participation in economic and social areas throughout life. For girls, because of the gender discrimination they already face, poor quality education doubly disadvantages them. Education, which should enable them to overcome these obstacles, instead fails to give them the skills and confidence they need to actively participate and advance in the social and economic spheres. Most of the 1.5 million girls out of school are drop-outs from the system. Quality improvement is essential if the goal of universal completion is to be attained.
Equity and access: Reaching the 10 per cent of girls who never enroll in school remains a challenge. The exclusion of nearly 1.5 million girls is a violation of the fundamental and basic right of every child to education. While in general there is high awareness in Bangladesh of the value of education, there are some groups of girls and boys who never enroll. These include working children, girls and boys with disabilities, children in urban slums, children of the ultra poor and girls and boys living in geographical areas with limited access to schools. It is not only an access issue, but primarily one of equity. Very focused efforts will be needed to ensure that these children are enrolled in basic education programmes. In many cases the girls are doubly disadvantaged, and special efforts will be needed to enroll and retain them
Despite having achieved gender parity in primary school enrolments, Bangladesh still has a long way to go to achieve gender equity, access to quality education for all girls, completion of basic education with acceptable competency levels and relevant life skills and equal roles for women and girls in society. Some of the key issues which must be addressed are as follows:
Perceptions of lesser value and limited roles of girls: Gender discrimination starts from birth and continues throughout life in Bangladesh. The perceived lesser value and limited roles of girls and women are embedded in the socio-economic system. Girls’ education, very broadly defined, can play a part in changing these norms and practices. The issue must be addressed both within schools and in the broader society, starting from early childhood and continuing through adolescence.
Quality of basic education: As the statistics illustrate, neither girls nor boys are receiving an education of an acceptable standard. By age 11 only just over a quarter have achieved the expected minimum competencies of primary school. Besides low academic achievement, there is little scope for developing relevant life skills within schools. Although many girls do continue with secondary school, their low competency levels put them at a disadvantage from the very beginning of the secondary cycle. For those who do not go on to secondary school, their low competency levels will be a severe limitation to their participation in economic and social areas throughout life. For girls, because of the gender discrimination they already face, poor quality education doubly disadvantages them. Education, which should enable them to overcome these obstacles, instead fails to give them the skills and confidence they need to actively participate and advance in the social and economic spheres. Most of the 1.5 million girls out of school are drop-outs from the system. Quality improvement is essential if the goal of universal completion is to be attained.
Equity and access: Reaching the 10 per cent of girls who never enroll in school remains a challenge. The exclusion of nearly 1.5 million girls is a violation of the fundamental and basic right of every child to education. While in general there is high awareness in Bangladesh of the value of education, there are some groups of girls and boys who never enroll. These include working children, girls and boys with disabilities, children in urban slums, children of the ultra poor and girls and boys living in geographical areas with limited access to schools. It is not only an access issue, but primarily one of equity. Very focused efforts will be needed to ensure that these children are enrolled in basic education programmes. In many cases the girls are doubly disadvantaged, and special efforts will be needed to enroll and retain them
Women and Girls in Bangladesh
Girls are fed last, and less than their brothers. They are
more vulnerable to trafficking, sexual abuse, rape, acid
throwing and other forms of exploitation, including child
labour and child prostitution. Many are married by age
15 and their families must pay hefty dowries. Dowry
violence, such as murder and induced suicide, still
poses real threats to girls.
Girls are less likely to go to university and if they do go,
their dowry increases. Many are mothers by the time
they are 19. Their youth doubles the risk of fatal
complications in pregnancy. About 11,000 women die in
child birth every year. Almost half of all mothers are
malnourished. Women are likely to die before their
husbands.
There were 266 acid attacks reported recently over a one
year period, affecting 322 people1. Of these, 183 were
women, 76 were children under 18, and 63 were men. Marital, family and land disputes,
dowry, refusing sex and marriage were the main reasons for the attacks. Special, speedier
courts have been introduced to deal with acid attacks, which now carry the death penalty.
Dowry and dowry-related violence, such as acid attacks and murder, are still prevalent. A
recent report2 stated that 165 women were killed in one year, 77 had acid thrown on them,
one was divorced and 11 committed suicide over dowry demands. Dowry is officially
prohibited by law.
Girls aged 14 to 17 are more likely to commit suicide, and attempt suicide than boys. The
Bangladesh Health and Injury Survey reported more than 2200 children committed suicide in
one year – or about six per day. Of those six, four were female. Suicide is the biggest killer
among this age group3.
There are substantially more “undetermined” causes for female deaths by injury than for
male deaths. Boys are more likely to be victims of non-fatal violence4.
More than half of married men (55 per cent) feel justified in hitting or beating their wives. In a
health survey, nearly one in two said if their wife went out without telling them, it would justify
violence5.
more vulnerable to trafficking, sexual abuse, rape, acid
throwing and other forms of exploitation, including child
labour and child prostitution. Many are married by age
15 and their families must pay hefty dowries. Dowry
violence, such as murder and induced suicide, still
poses real threats to girls.
Girls are less likely to go to university and if they do go,
their dowry increases. Many are mothers by the time
they are 19. Their youth doubles the risk of fatal
complications in pregnancy. About 11,000 women die in
child birth every year. Almost half of all mothers are
malnourished. Women are likely to die before their
husbands.
There were 266 acid attacks reported recently over a one
year period, affecting 322 people1. Of these, 183 were
women, 76 were children under 18, and 63 were men. Marital, family and land disputes,
dowry, refusing sex and marriage were the main reasons for the attacks. Special, speedier
courts have been introduced to deal with acid attacks, which now carry the death penalty.
Dowry and dowry-related violence, such as acid attacks and murder, are still prevalent. A
recent report2 stated that 165 women were killed in one year, 77 had acid thrown on them,
one was divorced and 11 committed suicide over dowry demands. Dowry is officially
prohibited by law.
Girls aged 14 to 17 are more likely to commit suicide, and attempt suicide than boys. The
Bangladesh Health and Injury Survey reported more than 2200 children committed suicide in
one year – or about six per day. Of those six, four were female. Suicide is the biggest killer
among this age group3.
There are substantially more “undetermined” causes for female deaths by injury than for
male deaths. Boys are more likely to be victims of non-fatal violence4.
More than half of married men (55 per cent) feel justified in hitting or beating their wives. In a
health survey, nearly one in two said if their wife went out without telling them, it would justify
violence5.
রবিবার, ১ নভেম্বর, ২০০৯
Today about two-thirds of population of the world live at low levels of technology, often in conditions of physical deprivation and even starvation, o
Today about two-thirds of population of the world live at low levels of technology, often in conditions of physical deprivation and even starvation, owing to a combination of factors. These include overpopulation, environmental deterioration, a history of colonialism that has destroyed old political and cultural units and thrown unrelated peoples together in newly emerging nations, and external or internal economic exploitation by powerful elites.
Stable traditional societies almost everywhere have been severely disrupted and their newly emerging social patterns are still undergoing great flux.
The 'beesh' (poison) was introduced in the mid-sixties as a component of High Yielding Varieties (HYV) technology. The farmers were given fertilizer free of cost. They were also given all sorts of incentives, such as credit and free training, to use pesticides and fertilizer form the agricultural department. With the fertilizer they were given paddy seeds developed in the laboratory known as HYV variety. In addition they were given pump machines to extract ground water for irrigation. Monoculture of HYV seeds narrowed the genetic base of agricultural practice. From at least fifteen thousands varieties of rice Bangladeshi farmers ended up into 8 to 12 varieties of rice. The extraction of ground water has resulted in a major crisis .Overall experience is disastrous.IMPORTED AGROCHEMICALS
An example was the widespread adoption of the 'miracle' grains of "Green Revolution".
Farmer Jahnara Begum
From an environmental and human health perspective, monoculture cropping encourages increasing pesticide use. Pests quickly develop resistance while their predators are killed off and farmers turn to increasingly higher doses and/ or stronger, more toxic pesticides, as pest resurgence occurs. Farmers are also often forced to increase the use of fertilisers to counter the loss of soil fertility resulting from a limited source of nutrients provided by one type of crop. HYVs (Gene modified High Yield Varities) also demand far more water and nutrients adding to the depletion of soil fertility and water resources. In addition pesticides and fertilisers build up as toxic residues in food and contaminate our soil, water and air, not to mention the health and living environment of farmers, agricultural workers and farming communities.
Farmer Jahanara Begum, speaking at a public meeting in a rice field in Chakaria, Bangladesh, said, "We have so many varieties of rice seeds, but instead we are going for the varieties from IRRI and the seed companies. These seeds need a chemical package. So we are doing deals with scientists and transnational companies. When we use local varieties we get a yield of 40 kg of rice. When we use pesticides and the companies seeds we get 20 kg more but we also destroy our soil, water and biodiversity." She added, "How many poisons are you using? We have lost our birds, our fish, the wildlife. We have lost all this for 20 kg more and we spend more money on our family's health. Bangladesh has such fertile land. We can grow so much. Still we have so much biodiversity." Furthermore, "For the last eight years I have used no pesticides. My costs have gone down and my yields have gone up. In nature there is a balance between predators and prey. Pesticides destroy this natural balance."
GREEN REVOLUTION
Women are the main users of water. They are the providers and collectors of water Arsenic poisoning has become a social malady in Bangladesh. Because of the socio-economic condition rural women are not given better food even during their pregnancy and become vulnerable to arsenic poisoning. Symptoms of arsenic poisoning are mistaken for more lethal disease leprosy or skin diseases, that leads to quarantining due to mistaken identity, in other words, social isolation. Parents cannot get their affected daughters married, wives are also sent back to their parents together with their children. Divorce is also very common. In a number of cases women also commit suicide.
We have shown, using econometric analysis, that the poorest suffer the most from arsenicosis in Bangladesh (WHO, 2000). . The burden of arsenicosis falls mainly on those living in low-income households (Tani, 1999). Most arsenic patient of Bangladesh is still drinking arsenic contaminated water and can hardly afford any medical treatment. There are many such 'poorest of the poor' families which badly need safe drinking water but have no money to participate in the process of installing a DPHE-supplied tubewell. One must pay Tk. 4,500 before arsenic free the Government well sets tube or affiliated NGOs. So the poor does not have any option.
First World beliefs that indefinite growth in material material consumption is possible, and today's grossly unequal distribution of global wealth is somehow ''justified'; the wealthy, it is said, have 'earned' it, although no one ever makes clear just how that earning took place. Almost all western aid to developing countries has been defevtive in chossing technologies, which does not reflect the local cultural values of each people. In fact, some of the ancient truths that have stood the the test of countless generations are now being 'discovered' by modern science. They are an intrinsic part of our humanness, built into the human psyche through millions of years of evolution.
Objectives:
Search for our heritage to recapture the sense of social, cultural and ecological harmony.
Societies need to 'coevolve' with local environments and culture, choosing appropriate technologies and creating social institutions that permit the environment to sustain society indefinitely.
Each culture must retrieve within its vison of loving relations with soil, air and water of Earth. Necessary for all cultures to be aware of the existence of etnocentrism and to school themselves to accept a world with diversity of value systems.
To support traditional simplism, humanism and secular thoughts that developed over centuries.
To promote traditional social bonds through permanenet groups of shared community
To save traditional medicine from time immemorial (Ayurveda, herbs)
To support shared community where human aspect of living.
To reintroduce lost traditional heritage that raises posit.ion of woman in society.
To support woman not to leave village in quest of job in the city.
To make available arsenic and disease free water.
Culture is learned as a child, and as children we each learned from those around us a particular set of rules, belifs, priortes and expectations that moulded our world into a meaningful whole. Bichar, Boul, Jari, Murshida, Baromashi etc are traditional dying culture of Bangladesh. You'll be astonished to hear how simple melodious language describes the diversity of human values. Bouls say, "God (Christian, Muslim, Hindu or others) is within us, if you love human being or the nature within you live, you also love God. You don't have to travel far.""Why look for your loved in the forestLook at your own souland there you'll find him"It is our worldview, our abstract conception of reality. We want to save it for generations. Villagers celebrates the concert the whole night.
"The fishes find the deep sea,The birds the branches of the tree.The Mother knows her love for her sonBy the sharp pain in her heart alone.Many and diverse colour that all milk shows,Through all the world, a Mother's nameA Mother's song is found the same".
Most of the projects run by the NGOs are for the elite of the society. Attractive seminars, workshops highlights the elites which have fallen under the intellectual spell of the "North" - metastatic spreading left over from clonial times.
Our films, books, lectures and endless symposia are useful to a degree, but ultimately they miss the boat. They come from the city, and rarely filter down to the villages in crisis. What we need to see happening is a reversal - an ecological sensibility that starts at the village level. Our cities are under the intellectual spell of "the North" continuously destroying love of the earth based on pragmatic beliefs and strategies that had passed down from generation to generation. We are gradually losing basic elements of sustainable development
NGOs in Bangladesh supported by donors and project blue prints from them demand money from the partcipants for taking part in a project.This means "acive participation". We have seen that in several villages that the poor can not take part any of these projects. Besides they have to travel a long distance which costs money and disrupt from all household activities.
The tax payers of developed countries should be more aware of the projects in the developing countries and politically represent lobby for the sustainable development for the poorest group of the population - not after destroying environment introducing new technologies appropriate for environmental sustainability but allow developing countries to regain traditional spiritual, social and cultural heritage.
We have supported the clay potters of Village Madhabpur, Faridpur to produce water filter. We have opened sewing and embroidered courses in three villages, where women can not affort. Ms. Aleya Begum, lives with the villagers. Poor women don't have to travel far away.The villagers can bring their babies, feed milch etc. You can not imagine, how pleasent and cordial atmosphere prevails here.
Village Betbaria, Faridpur
Village Bhatpara, Faridpur
Village Kuzurdia,Faridpur Faridpur
Each unit democratically selected their committee.
Stable traditional societies almost everywhere have been severely disrupted and their newly emerging social patterns are still undergoing great flux.
The 'beesh' (poison) was introduced in the mid-sixties as a component of High Yielding Varieties (HYV) technology. The farmers were given fertilizer free of cost. They were also given all sorts of incentives, such as credit and free training, to use pesticides and fertilizer form the agricultural department. With the fertilizer they were given paddy seeds developed in the laboratory known as HYV variety. In addition they were given pump machines to extract ground water for irrigation. Monoculture of HYV seeds narrowed the genetic base of agricultural practice. From at least fifteen thousands varieties of rice Bangladeshi farmers ended up into 8 to 12 varieties of rice. The extraction of ground water has resulted in a major crisis .Overall experience is disastrous.IMPORTED AGROCHEMICALS
An example was the widespread adoption of the 'miracle' grains of "Green Revolution".
Farmer Jahnara Begum
From an environmental and human health perspective, monoculture cropping encourages increasing pesticide use. Pests quickly develop resistance while their predators are killed off and farmers turn to increasingly higher doses and/ or stronger, more toxic pesticides, as pest resurgence occurs. Farmers are also often forced to increase the use of fertilisers to counter the loss of soil fertility resulting from a limited source of nutrients provided by one type of crop. HYVs (Gene modified High Yield Varities) also demand far more water and nutrients adding to the depletion of soil fertility and water resources. In addition pesticides and fertilisers build up as toxic residues in food and contaminate our soil, water and air, not to mention the health and living environment of farmers, agricultural workers and farming communities.
Farmer Jahanara Begum, speaking at a public meeting in a rice field in Chakaria, Bangladesh, said, "We have so many varieties of rice seeds, but instead we are going for the varieties from IRRI and the seed companies. These seeds need a chemical package. So we are doing deals with scientists and transnational companies. When we use local varieties we get a yield of 40 kg of rice. When we use pesticides and the companies seeds we get 20 kg more but we also destroy our soil, water and biodiversity." She added, "How many poisons are you using? We have lost our birds, our fish, the wildlife. We have lost all this for 20 kg more and we spend more money on our family's health. Bangladesh has such fertile land. We can grow so much. Still we have so much biodiversity." Furthermore, "For the last eight years I have used no pesticides. My costs have gone down and my yields have gone up. In nature there is a balance between predators and prey. Pesticides destroy this natural balance."
GREEN REVOLUTION
Women are the main users of water. They are the providers and collectors of water Arsenic poisoning has become a social malady in Bangladesh. Because of the socio-economic condition rural women are not given better food even during their pregnancy and become vulnerable to arsenic poisoning. Symptoms of arsenic poisoning are mistaken for more lethal disease leprosy or skin diseases, that leads to quarantining due to mistaken identity, in other words, social isolation. Parents cannot get their affected daughters married, wives are also sent back to their parents together with their children. Divorce is also very common. In a number of cases women also commit suicide.
We have shown, using econometric analysis, that the poorest suffer the most from arsenicosis in Bangladesh (WHO, 2000). . The burden of arsenicosis falls mainly on those living in low-income households (Tani, 1999). Most arsenic patient of Bangladesh is still drinking arsenic contaminated water and can hardly afford any medical treatment. There are many such 'poorest of the poor' families which badly need safe drinking water but have no money to participate in the process of installing a DPHE-supplied tubewell. One must pay Tk. 4,500 before arsenic free the Government well sets tube or affiliated NGOs. So the poor does not have any option.
First World beliefs that indefinite growth in material material consumption is possible, and today's grossly unequal distribution of global wealth is somehow ''justified'; the wealthy, it is said, have 'earned' it, although no one ever makes clear just how that earning took place. Almost all western aid to developing countries has been defevtive in chossing technologies, which does not reflect the local cultural values of each people. In fact, some of the ancient truths that have stood the the test of countless generations are now being 'discovered' by modern science. They are an intrinsic part of our humanness, built into the human psyche through millions of years of evolution.
Objectives:
Search for our heritage to recapture the sense of social, cultural and ecological harmony.
Societies need to 'coevolve' with local environments and culture, choosing appropriate technologies and creating social institutions that permit the environment to sustain society indefinitely.
Each culture must retrieve within its vison of loving relations with soil, air and water of Earth. Necessary for all cultures to be aware of the existence of etnocentrism and to school themselves to accept a world with diversity of value systems.
To support traditional simplism, humanism and secular thoughts that developed over centuries.
To promote traditional social bonds through permanenet groups of shared community
To save traditional medicine from time immemorial (Ayurveda, herbs)
To support shared community where human aspect of living.
To reintroduce lost traditional heritage that raises posit.ion of woman in society.
To support woman not to leave village in quest of job in the city.
To make available arsenic and disease free water.
Culture is learned as a child, and as children we each learned from those around us a particular set of rules, belifs, priortes and expectations that moulded our world into a meaningful whole. Bichar, Boul, Jari, Murshida, Baromashi etc are traditional dying culture of Bangladesh. You'll be astonished to hear how simple melodious language describes the diversity of human values. Bouls say, "God (Christian, Muslim, Hindu or others) is within us, if you love human being or the nature within you live, you also love God. You don't have to travel far.""Why look for your loved in the forestLook at your own souland there you'll find him"It is our worldview, our abstract conception of reality. We want to save it for generations. Villagers celebrates the concert the whole night.
"The fishes find the deep sea,The birds the branches of the tree.The Mother knows her love for her sonBy the sharp pain in her heart alone.Many and diverse colour that all milk shows,Through all the world, a Mother's nameA Mother's song is found the same".
Most of the projects run by the NGOs are for the elite of the society. Attractive seminars, workshops highlights the elites which have fallen under the intellectual spell of the "North" - metastatic spreading left over from clonial times.
Our films, books, lectures and endless symposia are useful to a degree, but ultimately they miss the boat. They come from the city, and rarely filter down to the villages in crisis. What we need to see happening is a reversal - an ecological sensibility that starts at the village level. Our cities are under the intellectual spell of "the North" continuously destroying love of the earth based on pragmatic beliefs and strategies that had passed down from generation to generation. We are gradually losing basic elements of sustainable development
NGOs in Bangladesh supported by donors and project blue prints from them demand money from the partcipants for taking part in a project.This means "acive participation". We have seen that in several villages that the poor can not take part any of these projects. Besides they have to travel a long distance which costs money and disrupt from all household activities.
The tax payers of developed countries should be more aware of the projects in the developing countries and politically represent lobby for the sustainable development for the poorest group of the population - not after destroying environment introducing new technologies appropriate for environmental sustainability but allow developing countries to regain traditional spiritual, social and cultural heritage.
We have supported the clay potters of Village Madhabpur, Faridpur to produce water filter. We have opened sewing and embroidered courses in three villages, where women can not affort. Ms. Aleya Begum, lives with the villagers. Poor women don't have to travel far away.The villagers can bring their babies, feed milch etc. You can not imagine, how pleasent and cordial atmosphere prevails here.
Village Betbaria, Faridpur
Village Bhatpara, Faridpur
Village Kuzurdia,Faridpur Faridpur
Each unit democratically selected their committee.
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